Jackson & Christian - Keep Praying Please

We want to thank everyone for their continued love, support and prayers. We just need you to keep praying a little while longer. Jackson’s surgery went well but he is having a little bit of complications. We noticed on Saturday that he was starting to throw up more then usual and it just kept getting worse. He would be eating and as he was eating he would just throw it all back up. Also, he’s been running a mild fever. Alicia took him back to Hershey Medical to have him looked at, however, the pediatric surgeon wasn’t available and that’s who they needed her to see. They told her to try and limit his feedings to 10 minutes each side and supplement in some pedialyte. So far its working, Jackson hasn’t really spit up like he has been so maybe it’s just a side effect of the surgery. Let’s hope so…

A while back Christian was at Grandview Hospital for his swollen lymph nods. He may have it again. Yesterday I noticed that he had a fever and was really tired, I figured it had to do with just being tired from the weekend. Alicia said this morning he was whining again that his head was hurting. She’s going to see if she can get an appt to get a CT scan. It could be the same thing as last time or it could be nothing serious. Let’s hope it’s the latter!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for just a little while longer.

Guess What?

Its 8:30 and we have the discharge papers! Jackson surgeon came in around 8 and looked him over and asked if we had any questions. We figured it would be a couple of hours at least so Alicia went down stairs and got breakfast. About 10 minutes after she got back the nurse came in with the discharge papers. She said we can eat breakfast and feed him, take our time, and when were ready just to let her know!

GOING HOME!

First night Post Surgery

The day was nice, he did really well with eating and sleeping but something clicked when the sun went down. He became very uncomfortable and whiny. Nothing would help him, he didnt want to eat or lay down or sleep or sit up. We tried walking around the floor and nothing!He started to spit up a lot too. We were about to throw the towel in and ask him to be hooked up the the IV because we didnt want Jackson to become dehydrated. The nurse last night said as long as he's wetting his diapers he's fine.

Around 3:30 relief finally came. He took a huge dump! There was a golf sized white ball inside the diaper, a lot of the barium. Almost instantly after we changed his diaper he became the Jackson that we know. He was wide awake so Alicia took him for a walk, this one he enjoyed, and came back to feed him. He fell asleep around 4:45 and slept until 7...

No word yet on his discharge....

Jackson's surgery and first adventure out of his room

He has the one small cut on the left and then the other one on his belly button.

Jackson really enjoyed the adventure out, with out wires or to a destination that will inflict pain!

Our Afternoon

Jackson is doing great. They removed all his tubes and wires and he's completely on his own. He's eating like a monster! lol! Its too soon to say but in the two feedings he has had he hasnt spit up like he has been. Around 4 Jackson got done feeding for about 40 minutes and was ready to go back to sleep. After he went down Alicia and I went out for a walk through downtown Hershey. We stopped at the Hershey Museum and Chocolate World next to Hershey Park. The hospital gave us coupons for the 3-D show all about chocolate. It was really neat, Alicia really liked it! We walked around the different chocolate themed stores and my god, I was in heaven. We were gone for about 2 hours but we needed that little time to ourselves to get our mind off of everything.

When we got back the nurse said he was asleep the whole time and didnt fuss!

Its over!

About 10:30am we got a call from his surgeon and everything went well. The doc said that the reason it took so long was because he pulled off the scab on his bellybutton and noticed there was a tube like thing coming out. He said they werent sure if it was something serious or not and since they had to go through the belly button for his surgery they decided to investigate. It turned out to be nothing to worry about. They said his pyloric surgery went well and there was no problems with that.

We were able to see Jackson around 11 and we left recovery about 11:35. Were in our room now and Jackson is doing well. Hungry but good. Our nurse is trying to find out if he can eat or not, there were no orders from the surgeon.

Those 2 and a half hours were very stressful and scary. Its been a while but I cried today.

Time for Surgery

Well, as of 7:50 Jackson is off to surgery. They are doing a laproscopic surgery instead of the open cut. They said it takes about 2 hours. Alicia and I will be waiting nervously until we know our little man is safe and okay!

still awake

found out that Jacksons IV came out, from the looks of it its been out a while. Our nurse tonight said that she may want to do a scalp IV, but she couldnt find a vein. She said she wasnt going to put the IV in until afte she spoke with the doc to see what he wanted to do.

The nurses took Jackson back to the Treatment room to put the IV back in. They've already poked him 4 times and the nurses concern was that they wouldnt be able to find a good vein. Alicia and I stayed back because we couldnt take Jacksons crying anymore!

Our nurse, Patty, talked to the doc and hopefully they'll do the surgery first thing in the morning knowing that he's having a hard time keeping an IV and hasnt really been eating. Fingers crossed.

Hopefully when Jackson gets back he'll be so tired from screaming and crying that he'll just sleep!

where are we again?

Theres nothing like waking up in a daze and trying to figure out where you are. 2 am never sucked more then it does now. Jackson has been sleping but its very irregular. He goes for 20 minutes then awake then and hour then awake. We have been taking full advantage of the unlimited supply of Pedialyte. It weird to watch him drink and then almost instantly its sucked back out through the tube...They told us not to feed him after 3am so maybe that means surgery will be around 9? Since giving him Pedialyte he has been peeing. His diapers are soiled for the first time since monday night!

Lets try this sleep thing again.

finally something to drink...

So they brought jackson some pedialyte. He gets to drink it then they are going to flush his stomach out. So it won't be in there for long but at least he will have something for a little bit.

its 9pm

i dont think sleep is something that we are able to get tonight. We've both been awake since 3am. Jackson is still so hungry, the IV they gave him arent doing enough. He hasnt had any wet diapers since being here. He's only had one blow out and thats because of the barium solution. Jackson is so tired and he looks it, but wont sleep. He's very uncomfortable and has to be in pain. If you move the slightest bit it starts a crying episode that will last at least 5 minutes.

Hopefully they'll have the surgery as soon as they can tomorrow so he can eat real food. We'll lets try this sleep thing out. Alicia is trying to rock him now and it may be working. The nurse gave him tylenol about 30 minutes ago. Fingers crossed for at least an hour of sleep!

Dont make promises

You'll never know if you can keep them. Alicia and I were talking a few nights back about how Jackson may never need surgery. Alicia promised him that she wouldn't let that happen to him...well, that promise was broken this morning. Jackson had an upper GI test this morning for reflux. After 1 am he wasnt able to eat anything. We'll he had his last feeding at 11:30. I took him to his appt, while Alicia satayed home with Christian, around 6:30. They gave him a barium solution to drink and x-rayed his stomach, throat and intestines. The test took about an hour and he was more then happy to drink the solution! We had to wait for the doc to get the report and let us know what the next step was. Well, the test was done around 7:45, around 9:30 they said they still havent heard from our Doc. Meanwhile, Jackson still hasnt eaten and wasnt allowed to until the results were in.

We left the hospital around 9:30 and they told us to see our doc right away because Jackson wasnt able to eat until we knew. I drove right over the Doc. It was 9:45 and the doc still wasnt in. They told us they'll call us when she got in and looked at the results. I told the nurse that Jackson hasnt eaten for almost 12 hours and I wanted to know if I could feed him. She called the doctor. The doctor asked to speak to Alicia and I. She told us the he does have reflux which is common. Christian had it. She said what wasnt common was where the stomach and the intestines meet is 2/3 smaller then should be. To fix something like that would require SURGERY.

They wanted to do surgery right away. The doc said that we have to go to Hershey Medical Hospital which is about an hour away from our home. We left the docs and went home to pack our bags and make arrangements for Christian. About an hour after we got home we left to go to the hospital. Its practically across the street from Hershey Park...We were able to get in and register fairly quickly. The Pediatrics is on the 7th floor and we have our own room. Not much bigger then a closet but...we dont have to share.

The doc came in shortly after and talked to us. He said that what Jackson has is Pyloric Stenosis. What that is the muscle that contracts so the food waste from the stomach passes is enlarged and hard. Click the title of this for more info. The doc said that what they do is cut one side of the muscle so it expands, making food easier to pass. He told us that surgery is set for tomorrow.

Tonight they have him on IV and a tube down to his stomach to pump out the barium solution.
When we got here they checked his vitals and info. Jackson is 25.5 inches long and weighs 10lbs! Its werid because one of the symptoms of Pyloric Stenosis is little or no weight gain or growth. The only symptom Jackson has is persistant vomiting.
We'll keep everyone updated! Pray for us and especailly Jackson!

Our Backyard Plans

Alicia and I would like to get a new fence for the backyard by next spring. The fence that’s currently there must be original to the house, it’s that wood post and chicken wire kind. There are rusted nails sticking out and the woods rotted from age and the bugs. In the back behind the fence is over grown weeds and tall pine trees. We were thinking about having someone come out and take the trees down, grind the stump, level the yard, seed it and remove the sidewalk. We got a few estimates of about $1,000 for all that. So I am trying to save money and do as much of it myself as I can. I cleared out all the weeds, over grown bushes and trees on the one side of the yard on Sunday. I didn’t use an axe or a chain saw…I used a knife to take them all down! We don’t have extra money to buy or rent tools so I made do with what we had.

With everything cleared we have about an extra 5 feet of yard…which would be great to have that extra space. If we get rid of the sidewalk that’s in the yard then I want to put a patio in the back corner of the yard so we have somewhere to put the patio set and grill. And hopefully create a nicer place for the boys to play. Like I said, I’m going to try and do as much as I can. I’ll have to rent a few tools but we got plenty of time for that. Wernersville has an open fire law, so were going to burn as much of the tree limbs and brush as we can so we dont ahve to runt a dumpster.

The Ignorance We have to deal with

What I'm about to post is something that has Alicia and I very upset. While this was given to us about a month ago, we are still dealing with the ignorance of some people. You know who you are
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derik please think what you are given to this child. please listen to **** she loves you and your kids so much and wants the best for them.

YOU ARE HINDERING THIS LITTLE BOY FOR LIFE WITH THE NAME JACKSON. NO MATTER WHERE HIS NAME IS ON A LIST FOR SPORTS, SCHOOL, ETC., WHEN THEY SEE jACKSON bURNS IT IMMEDIATELY CONJURED UP A BLACK KID! cOULDE BE AWFUL WHEN HE SENDS RESUMES IN FOR A JOB AND THEY SEE HIS NAME AND COULD BE PREDICURE BECAUSE THEY THINK HES BLACK. yOUR MOM AND DAD GAVE YOU A GOOD NAME AND PLEASE THERE ARE SO MANY OUT THERE PLEASE EVEN IF YOU SIGNED THE PAPERS YOU CAN REENTER A CHANGE HIS NAME i KNOW BECAUSE THEY HAD KATIES NAME WRONG AND i FILLED OUT A CORRECTION.

mY HEART IS HAPPY ALICIA IS DELIVERED SAFELY OF A NICE SIZE BABY BUT DON'T GIVE HIM A NAME WHICH IS A LIFE OF HARDSHIPP. DON'T DO THIS TO HIM i BEG OF YOU. i AM SICK OVER THE NAME AND HEISTATE TO EVEN ANNOUNCE HIS BIRTH AS DON'T WANT TO TELL ANYONE HIS BLACK NAME. PLEASE dERIK!

Rain, Rain...

….go away! It’s raining and suppose to until next Wednesday. You couldn’t tell that summer will be here on Sunday…seems more like February or March.

Not much news to report. Jackson’s been really gassy and spitting up more then usually. Alicia made an appt with the doctor to see if he’s okay. She thinks that he may have reflux. Christian had it.

Christian has been out of sorts. He’s been waking up in the middle of the night and is wide awake. It’s never the same time and it’s not always when Jackson wakes up. He gets up and plays or talks/screams to himself. He goes back to sleep eventually but still. It’s annoying to have two kids awake!

Today is June 18th and my dad will be here in 13 days…just under two weeks! It would be nice to see him again. It’s been about a year. We’re planning on going out to Phoenix for Christmas for about a week. Nice to bring Christian back to place where he was born, and nice to get away from the winter weather.

Almost.

Wernersville Day/Cancelled Party

It was the 4th annual Wernersville Day and our 1st. The Cone by our house had a lot for Christian to do. They had moon bounces, clowns, music and tons of candy/junk food! And the best part…its was almost all FREE! The Penn Werner Hotel was selling grilled food and free samples inside. Five and Devine had local artists too meet…My favorite event was the Train Station. The train station is undergoing a restoration and they had it opened so that you can see the progress. It was so neat to see and they had a lot of original pieces. Its been closed since the 30’s but its in good condition. They had the original bathrooms and fixtures…there was even some towels still in the holders!

Even though the party was cancelled, family still showed up to see Jackson. Everyone brought something to eat and all I had to do was cook the hot dogs…nice and easy. The weather was great so we got to spend a lot of time in the back yard or walking around Wernersville Day. We played the videos of the day Jackson was born and when he came home. It was really nice to see family and everyone who loves and supports us.

After everyone went home Alicia and I went back out to the Strawberry Festival which was across the street. It was nearing the end of the festival so it wasn’t anything great but we took the Trolley home…a great way to end a great day!

Jackson!

Play Date

Nat, Lillian, and Abby came over yesterday. It was a play date galore! Christian and Abby got to play together and Jackson had Lillian to “play” with. Alicia got to spend time with another grown up and have a real conversation. Abby is so cute and Lillian is so BIG!

So nice!

"I'm going to eat you!"

WWII Weekend

On Sunday I took Christian to the WW II Weekend at the Reading Airport. It’s a big to do event that recreates war camps and cities. The biggest draw for me was the planes. They had planes you can go inside and see and also they had planes flying around…Christian is really into planes and I thought he would like this. He did. He was in awe when he saw and heard the planes flying around. The planes were flying around and “shooting” at each other. On the ground they had more gun fights and explosions. Can you just imagine Christian’s face and what he must have been thinking? He kept pointing and saying guns and fighting…I explained it was just play fighting…

We got to go inside two different planes. One was a museum inside of the planes history. This is the plane that allowed him to sit in the cockpit and play with the controls. He really enjoyed that but the guy supervising wasn’t too nice to him…anyway. The weather was awesome too, it got a little hot after walking around for a while but they had that all figured out. They had a long yellow tent set up; Christian and I went over to see what it was and it was a misting tent. At first Christian refused to go through and threw a fit! I knew he would like it so I walked through a few times and still nothing. I picked him up and he loved it! He played for about 10 more minutes until we moved on. (We went back 3 other times before we left the event!)

Christian and I were there for over 2 hours! They had school buses to take us to the different parking lots. On the school bus Christian was a little scared. He wanted his seat belt on! He was just looking at the window when he turned to me and gave me kiss…then he said “Thanks Dad” and then I knew it was all worth it!

100th Post (First Week)

Monday, Day 1:

I’m use to getting up early and I’m use to taking a nap during the day. I felt great getting up, must have been the adrenaline. When I left, everyone was still sleeping. It felt a little awkward. Things came easily though, I didn’t forget anything. I called Alicia around 9am and she said that her and Jackson just woke up and Christian was awake but in his room. Around 12 I started to fall asleep…it was nap time! I was set to leave at 2 but it seemed so far away.

Everyone was happy when I got home and I was happy to be home

Tuesday, Day 2:

It was a little easier getting up today; I didn’t have to be at work so early! For me the day dragged on and on. Each minute felt like an hour. Alicia said that Jackson did really well and Christian was fine. He got a little annoying in the afternoon but….At work they had an ice cream cake for my belated birthday. At the Reading Museum they were having a Garden Party (whatever that was). She was going to take the boys to walk around and get out of the house. Alicia went to get gas because her car was on E. She calls me 10 minutes before I’m about to leave work crying and yelling. She said her car wont start and nobody would help her…she’s at a gas station. I don’t know what she wants me to do; I’m over an hour away from home. She calls me back about 20 minutes later and said that an older gentleman helped her jump her car and she was heading home.

Wednesday, Day 3:

I slept in the basement last night. I’ve been having a hard time sleeping and it’s NOT because of Jackson . I just toss and turn and kick the wall…I don’t know what’s wrong. I do get up when Jackson does to help but Alicia never wants me to help, all I can do is offer. I didn’t have the motivation this morning; I just didn’t feel like getting up. Alicia took the boys to the Garden Party before Christians nap time and she said it’s a lot like a Fair. They have games and rides…but she didn’t have any money so they went home. Were going to go later, if the weather permits….

Thursday, Day 4:

Weather didn’t permit us to go to the Garden Party. So we just had a hectic night at home. My headache still hasn’t gone away and now the pain is getting worse. Last night Alicia finally used me….She asked me to help with Christian. For some reason he woke up at 2 and didn’t fall back to sleep until after 3:30. Christian asked to go potty and for a million hugs and kisses. I am currently without a phone. Hopefully soon I can replace it. Alicia and I have been thinking a lot about the party and are thinking of postponing it. Tomorrow should be interesting, I won’t be going home because I have to close and work Saturday. We’ll see how things go with Alicia and the boys.

Friday, Day 5

I got to spend some time with the boys before I headed off to work. I got to lay with Jackson and playing with Christian. Christian didn’t want much to do with me… Jackson had is dr appt at 11:15. Alicia called me around 12:15 to tell me his updates. The dr said he jumped a percentile for his height and weight. At his last appt, two weeks ago, he weighed 6lbs and 15oz and he now weighs 8lbs and 9 oz! She said that’s really good for a breastfed baby! And his height was 20.5 inches and is now 22.5 inches. Alicia is doing really well. She said that it hasn’t been as hard as she thought. Granted it’s only been 5 days….her car “broke” down again. It was in the parking lot of Redners and she frantically searched for help in the parking lot. An older gentleman helped her find help and then jump her car. All in all, it wasn’t a bad week for either of us!